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  • A Night for Mischief (Orca Currents)

A Night for Mischief
(Orca Currents)

Author
Allison Finley
Publication Date
August 19, 2025
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction /  6th − 8th
Language
English
Format
Hi-Lo
Chapter Book
A Night for Mischief (Orca Currents)
Description

Halloween is thirteen-year-old Syd's favorite night of the year, but when she gets teased by older kids about her costume, she decides to sit this one out.

But then her friend Jake finds a strange mask in a box of estate-sale junk to wear for his costume and manages to convince Syd to go to a haunted house. When Jake puts on the mask, he starts acting strangely, claiming to be "the Spirit of Mischief", and soon he's causing trouble all over town. With Halloween revellers transforming into werewolves, pirates, alligators--real-life versions of their costumes--and Halloween decorations coming alive and roaming the streets, Syd needs to embrace her love of Halloween to find a way to defeat Mischief before someone gets hurt.

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading-level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don't like to read! The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Publication date
August 19, 2025
Genre
Fiction
Page Count
112
ISBN-13
9781459840867
Lexile Measure
670
Publisher
Orca Book Publishers
Series
Orca Currents
BISAC categories
JUV058000 - Juvenile Fiction | Paranormal, Occult & Supernatural
JUV017030 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Halloween
JUV086000 - Juvenile Fiction | Readers | Hi-Lo
JUV087000 - Juvenile Fiction | Trickster Tales

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8--This trio of tales features resourceful protagonists who get in over their heads but use their wits to find their way out of sticky situations. The weakest of the bunch is Night for Mischief, a plot-driven tale about a cursed mask turning Halloween into a real-life nightmare. Miss Match features a group of young teens who start a matchmaking service for the upcoming middle school dance. The interest turns out to be overwhelming, and when everyone ends up mismatched, they have some angry customers. This title builds up to a dramatic dance-night confession straight out of a teen movie. Bark Twice for Murder is a masterfully written, deliciously weird mystery. Fourteen-year-old Harry loves to make food for people at his local homeless shelter, even befriending some of the regular customers. When Stanley is murdered near Harry's food truck, Stanley's dog, Waffles, starts talking to Harry. The two must solve the murder. Despite the outlandish plot, the book is sensitive to issues like homelessness and mental illness. VERDICT Bark Twice for Murder is a must-add to any collection, Miss Match is worth considering, pass on A Night for Mischief.

Copyright 2025 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Allison Finley

Allison Finley has a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. She works as a freelance writer and editor. Allison gratefully lives next to a river just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, on the ancestral, traditional and unceded territory of the Kwikwetlem First Nation.

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